IT news in your industry sector

Test drive: Is Microsoft Office for iPad a strong start for mobile Office?

Microsoft unveiled Office for iPad on 27 March 2014, with immediate availability in Apple’s App Store. Continue Reading

By

• Tim Anderson

RWE signs seven-year network deal with Vodafone to improve efficiency

Utility provider RWE has signed a seven year, multi-million pound contract to run its network, to reduce cost and gain greater efficiency Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Turkey lifts Twitter ban

Turkey has lifted a ban on Twitter after the constitutional court ruled that the block breached freedom of expression Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

RBS IT head Mike Errington retires

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) IT head Mike "Offshore Errington" is to retire after months of speculation during the bank's cost-cutting operation Continue Reading

Why have organisations failed to make PSN compliance deadline?

A number of organisations have failed to meet the PSN security compliance deadline despite the threat of being cut off from critical services Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Pharmaceuticals company turns to cloud HR technology

Astra Zeneca CIO Dave Smoley turns lessons learned from an earlier cloud HR implementation to use at the pharmaceuticals giant Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Government signs £5.5m Microsoft deal to extend Windows XP support

The government has signed a deal with Microsoft to support Windows XP across the UK public sector for 12 months after 8 April deadline Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Study alleges deeper NSA influence on RSA

RSA adopted a second NSA-developed encryption tool, increasing the agency's spying capabilities, a study claims Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK update to copyright law imminent

The UK is to update its 1988 copyright law for the digital age in line with a nearly three-year-old review Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government failed at promoting competition over BDUK, say MPs

The government has consistently failed to promote competition during the roll-out of rural broadband across the UK, according to the PAC. Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Where next for the NHS Care.data programme?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, healthcare IT experts talk about the next steps for the controversial NHS Care.data plan to create a database of medical records. Is Moore’s Law running out? We hear about the future of processor technology. And our latest buyer’s guide looks at how data analytics can improve IT security. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Can the mainframe remain relevant in the cloud and mobile era?

IBM mainframes run more than 1.1m transactions per second, yet the mainframe has remained largely unfashionable. We investigate Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

M&S uses social media to make customers happy and drive sales

Marks and Spencer has been using social media to engage with its customers and has seen a significant increase in sales from its marketing campaigns Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Google says government data requests are up 120% since 2009

Government requests for information about Google customers, have increased by 120% since 2009 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security an unnecessary expense, say one in six techies

One in six IT professionals see security as an unnecessary expense, a study has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

TechUK criticises OFT's reporting of IT cartel accusations

TechUK criticises a report from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) alleging anti-competitive behaviour and collusion between public sector IT suppliers Continue Reading

Using NoSQL databases to gain competitive advantage

NoSQL is attracting growing interest from businesses - we examine three case studies: Amadeus, i2O and Temetra Continue Reading

By

• Lindsay Clark

Target data breach: Why UK business needs to pay attention

Late last year, US retailer Target was hit by one of the biggest data breaches in the industry's history. So what happened and why is it relevant to UK businesses? Continue Reading

By

• Lee Munson

Grant Thornton spends £3m in move to cloud HR services

Financial advisory firm invests in cloud talent management as it gears up to expand its operations in the UK Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Get kids coding

In this week's Computer Weekly, we examine the latest moves to encourage children to learn to code, to help avoid future skills shortages. Facebook's Open Compute Project is bringing open source to the datacentre – we look at what it means for IT. And we profile Salesforce.com as the SaaS firm celebrates its 15th birthday. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Analysis: Care.data – where next?

Following the public debate surrounding the NHS Care.data plan, it was unsurprising the topic dominated the UK’s largest health IT event Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Customer privacy an ongoing challenge, says Unilever

Unilever has set up a programme to address the continually evolving challenge of privacy issues relating to customer data Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

The digital CIO: How digital technology will change the way organisations work

If you are an IT leader, digital technology is likely to be a pivotal factor in your career over the next five years Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Application support and maintenance costs increase 29%

The cost of supporting and maintaining applications is increasing every year for Global 2000 companies in the US and UK, according to a study of 300 CIOs Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Mine machine data to boost business value

Businesses risk losing their competitive edge if they are unable to drill down into the information captured by machine-generated data Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Pirated software malware to cost business $491bn in 2014, study shows

Malware deliberately loaded into pirated or counterfeit software is expected cost enterprises $491bn in 2014 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Firms urged to take tough action on Unix-based cyber attack

Security researchers have urged businesses to take action on a cyber criminal campaign that has seized control of 25,000+ Unix servers worldwide Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Case study: How John Lewis conquered the web

An in-depth look at the inside story of John Lewis' £40m e-commerce strategy. Continue Reading

— Computerweekly.com

Oracle pushes Exadata servers aggressively against IBM PureSystems

IDC’s latest market share data for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), has shown that Oracle is beginning to grow its server business Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Committee report calls for “presumption of openness” with public data

The government should have a “presumption of openness” when it comes to public data, the Commons Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) said Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Three-quarters of UK charities are failing to adapt to digital

Charities in the UK are failing to adopt digital agendas in their organisations Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

SMEs believes they are immune to cyber attack

Most SMEs believe they are not at real risk of cyber attack, a survey has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Red Bull ramps up network for 2014 F1 championship

An extended relationship with AT&T will support RedBull Infiniti Racing on and off the track as it prepares its 2014 championship bid Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Hacktivism: good or evil?

IT lawyer Dai Davis looks at the rise of hacktivism and its impact on business and international politics Continue Reading

By

• Dai Davis, Percy Crow Davis & Co

Amazon Web Services reaches its 8th birthday

On March 14 2006 Amazon expanded from its retail heritage and launched its IT services business with the birth of Amazon Web Services (AWS) Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Heroes of the web

Tim Berners-Lee published his proposal for the web 25 years ago. We trace back the major developments that made it worldwide. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Government finally ends e-Borders programme

The government has formally ended the troubled e-Borders programme, with its intended functions merged into a new project Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Case study: Footwear company Deckers takes e-commerce sites into the cloud

The company behind shoe brands including Ugg Australia and Teva is using a cloud-based digital commerce platform to support global expansion Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

More than 162,000 WordPress sites used in DDoS attack

Security researchers have uncovered a DDoS attack that used more than 162,000 legitimate and unwitting WordPress websites Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Tim Berners-Lee calls for internet users’ "bill of rights"

World Wide Web creator marks its 25th anniversary by calling for a “free, open and truly global internet” enshrined in a "bill of rights" Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Analytics across the ecosystem

Analytics is a key enabler for life sciences and healthcare organizations to create better outcomes for patients, customers and other stakeholders across the entire healthcare ecosystem, according to this research from IBM. Continue Reading

— computerweekly.com

Case study: BG Group turns to cloud HR to reach staff in multiple countries

Gas exploration and production company replaces SAP HR technology with Oracle Fusion in the cloud. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Dark web key enabler for cyber criminals, say McAfee researchers

The dark web is a key conduit for the malware industry to refine and distribute its products and services, say security researchers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CIOs hold fire over datacentre decisions

When it comes to devising datacentre strategies, are CIOs paralysed like rabbits in the headlights, or playing a calculated game of wait and see? Continue Reading

By

• Jim Mortleman

Cabinet Office completes first user trial of consumer technologies

The Cabinet Office has completed its first user trial of consumer technologies within the department Continue Reading

John Lewis sees omni-channel growth in yearly results

John Lewis has seen growth from both its in-store, online and mobile channels across its John Lewis and Waitrose branches. Continue Reading

Thames Water pilots smart analytics with Accenture

Thames Water is six months into an 18 month pilot with Accenture Smart Grid to pilot real time monitoring to deliver an improved service Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Channel 4 CTO Bob Harris leaves to set up consultancy firm

Channel 4 chief technology officer Bob Harris is leaving the broadcaster at the end of March to set up his own consultancy business Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

No more email? Why companies are turning to collaboration technology

Collaboration technologies are helping companies improve their employees' work-life balance Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

IT sector sees sharper rise in insolvencies than overall economy

Information and communications companies in the UK are suffering a rising number of insolvencies Continue Reading

By

• Tim Wood and Henry Kirby

Liverpool council to end BT IT joint venture

Liverpool City Council is to cancel a £70m-a-year IT joint venture deal with BT and bring services back in-house Continue Reading

Virgin Media boosts broadband speeds

Virgin Media promises a top speed of 152Mbps for customers across the UK, as well as boosting its entry-level connection from 30Mbps to 50Mbps Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

RBS to tidy up systems mess

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) outlines plans to cut costs and improve customer services, slashing the number of IT systems in the process Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

MasterCard and Syniverse launch geolocation card verification service

MasterCard and Syniverse have launched a number of mobile and payment services for mobile users to use while travelling abroad Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Mobile responsible for 32% of online sales

One third of all UK online sales were made using a mobile device in the last quarter of 2013 Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

HP Autonomy unveils healthcare analytics system for textual data

HP has unveiled a new healthcare analytics product to enable medical staff to interrogate text and data in relational databases Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Microsoft takes aim at passwords

Microsoft says it is determined to solve the problem of ineffective authentication that relies on usernames and passwords Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Interview: Prepare for the end of the silicon era

IT breakthroughs are governed by the insights of Intel's Gordon Moore in 1965. IBM fellow Bernie Meyerson believes Moore’s law no longer holds true Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Flexibility and integration drove NatWest Microsoft Dynamics migration

NatWest Business Banking selected Microsoft Dynamics CRM when it realised it needed full CRM capability Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Tech-savvy Mothercare boss quits

Mothercare announces the resignation of chief executive Simon Calver Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Atos to distance itself from controversial DWP contract

Atos is trying to exit its disability testing contract with the Department for Work and Pensions early as the controversial contract enters its final 18 months Continue Reading

Banking with dinosaurs – the legacy IT crisis in financial services

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine the recent IT problems at high-street banks, and find out how outsourcing led to the loss of vital legacy IT skills. We ask what role wearable technology could have in enterprise IT. We take an in-depth look at the tools for using Microsoft Azure for building hybrid clouds. And we analyse the storage infrastructure challenges from introducing desktop virtualisation. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Executive interview: Microsoft targets the non-professional developers

The developer community is changing. There are far more people programming now, says Microsoft's Tim O'Brien Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

PSN gets encryption for higher security levels

An encryption service has been announced by the Cabinet Office which will enable public sector staff to share information at the IL3 security level over the Public Services Network (PSN) Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Data network outages hit Vodafone

Mobile operator Vodafone apologises to customers on Twitter but refuses to give an estimate of when services will return to normal Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Employee mobiles expose firms to attack, says Webroot

Employees mobile devices expose companies to malicious applications and attacks, according to the latest mobile threat report from Webroot Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Diageo selects TCS for global services

Drinks maker Diageo has chosen Indian IT services firm TCS to support its IT infrastructure transformation Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

A guide to APM for the network manager

Has application performance management become a much needed discipline for the network manager? We examine the issues for IT departments Continue Reading

By

• Adrian Bridgwater

Gloucestershire County Council replaces Capita with Steria to transform IT delivery

Gloucestershire County Council has signed a five-year ICT managed service deal with Steria to support a major change to IT delivery Continue Reading

Essex CC sets upon IT transformation project after £16.6m deal with Fujitsu

Essex County Council has partnered with Fujitsu as part of a £16.6m deal to transform its corporate systems estate Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

UK firms see 1,000+ internal data breaches a day, study finds

Internal threats are not a high priority for UK firms despite more than 1,000 internal data breaches a day Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NHS England puts patient database on hold

NHS England is to delay by six months the roll-out of its controversial Care.data scheme for sharing patient records through a central database Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Indian suppliers face recruitment challenges as visa rejections increase

US clampdowns on Indian IT firms bringing staff to its shores is forcing Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to increase local hires Continue Reading

UK IT spending to outpace rest of Europe in 2014

Computer Weekly research reveals the IT spending priorities for UK and European organisations in 2014. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Is second-hand software illegal?

The action by Federation Against Software Theft to suspend one of its members confuses users over legal second-hand user licences Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

HP knew of Autonomy hardware sales tactics

New evidence suggests HP was aware of Autonomy’s accounting practices months before publicly condemning the company Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Cut Microsoft admin rights to mitigate 92% of threats, study shows

Removing Microsoft admin rights from employees mitigates 92% of critical vulnerabilities reported in 2013 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Online sales up 18% on last year

Post-Christmas online sales have exceeded forecasts, growing by 18% year on year Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Roaming costs lose mobile operators 300 million users

A new survey by the European Commission shows 94% of citizens limit their mobile use when in another state to save on roaming charges, meaning mobile operators could be missing out on big revenues Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Latvia’s Lattelecom: 1Gbps will be standard by 2018

Latvian telecoms firm will make 1Gbps its standard connection to homes by 2018, with the internet of things and customer demand necessitating the rise Continue Reading

By

• Juris Kaža

NHS Scotland awards SWAN contract to Capita

Capita wins the £110m contract for the Scottish Wide Area Network project, while BT continues to seek damages for losing out Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Searching for the signal of open standards amid the growing noise of agile

For all its undeniable strengths, the use of agile in government is in danger of becoming a fetish Continue Reading

By

• Mark Thompson, Exeter Business School and DIGITLab

BBC starts search for suppliers to replace £2bn Atos outsourcing deal

The BBC is moving away from its single-supplier outsourcing deal to a multi-sourced 'tower' approach for its technology services Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Living with Google Glass – not quite useful enough to overcome the dork-factor

Businesses will use Google Glass first, says Simon Dring after spending a few days living with the technology. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Dring

Dynamic businesses use the network as the CEO

Yammer co-founder and CTO, Adam Pisoni, believes businesses need to reassess how they are organised Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

BT sues NHS Scotland for £20m over SWAN project

After losing its bid for the Scottish Wide Area Network project, the telecoms giant is suing the NHS National Services Scotland Continue Reading

Troubleshooting datacentre management issues

Gaining better control of the datacentre has to be a high priority to ensure high levels of performance and availability Continue Reading

By

• Clive Longbottom

Virgin Atlantic trials Google Glass for Upper Class

The airline is piloting Google Glass with its staff at Heathrow to try and improve customer service Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Poundland founder launches Poundshop online website

The co-founder of the bargain store Poundland is to launch a Poundshop online store Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Head of BBM becomes latest BlackBerry casualty

Andrew Bocking is leaving the ailing mobile manufacturer as BlackBerry Messenger is integrated into the enterprise business Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Why IT outsourcing is increasingly blamed for IT failures at banks

Are the IT problems at UK banks caused by outsourcing or the use of decades-old mainframe technology – or is it a combination of the two? Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Rights groups call on White House to open privacy review

A coalition of 25 rights groups is calling for a 90-day US government review of big data and the future of privacy to be opened up to the public Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CIOs lack confidence in government to deliver NHS IT innovation

CIOs in the healthcare sector are not confident in the government’s ability to deliver IT innovation in the NHS. Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

UK among targets of 'Mask' advanced cyber espionage campaign

The UK has been hit more than 100 times in an advanced global cyber espionage campaign that has gone undetected for more than five years Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

The best tablet for the job

Windows 8 devices offer enterprise-grade computing but, as Android tablets exploit consumer appeal, other specifications will matter too. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Barclays bank leaks thousands of customer records

Regulators investigate Barclays after a whistleblower claims the bank leaked 27,000 customer records Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Met Police releases ‘Total Technology’ IT strategy

The Metropolitan Police Service has released a three to four-year plan on how to transform the use of technology in the organisation Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Large internet companies could win insurance customers

Almost a quarter of consumers would consider large internet companies – such as Google and Amazon – as possible insurance providers. Continue Reading

Gartner figures show PC market in continued decline

The PC market continued to decline in the UK according to the latest shipment figures from Gartner, although Lenovo continued to make gains Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

UK critical infrastructure at risk of cyber attack, says IET report

UK critical national infrastructure is at risk of cyber attack, says a report by consultancy Atkins for the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Continue Reading